World Cup

Sip the atmosphere — and coffee — at these java hot spots

Forget alarm clocks. For the caffeine-dependent, no morning truly gets under way before that first gulp of coffee. And without it, there’s trouble brewing. So many people fall back on lack of coffee as the scapegoat for all life’s little blunders that one wonders how anyone got out of bed in the morning before traders first brought coffee beans back from Africa. Mornings couldn’t have been pretty back then, but we’ve identified eight cities around the world where the view and the brew are equally beautiful.

Rio de Janeiro: Confeitaria Colombo serves piping-hot espresso and excellent pastries in a Belle Epoque tearoom in Rio’s old city center. “The Confeitaria also runs a small café in the Forte Copacabana, which juts out onto the headland at the end of the famous beach,” says Shawn Blore, a journalist based in Rio. Confeitaria’s tables, set atop a seawall and shaded by umbrellas, have the “best view of the beach anywhere,” according to Blore. Elsewhere in Rio, the chain Cafeina specializes in tasty cappuccino, breads, and jams, though the locations themselves aren’t particularly noteworthy. For more ambience, a second option in the city center is the café in the Paço Imperial, the old seat of the imperial government, in Praça XV de Novembro.

Holualoa, Hawaii: Kona coffee is grown exclusively in the volcanic soil of a 20-mile-long, 2-mile-wide stretch of the island of Hawaii, about 10 miles from Kailua-Kona. Here, the coffee trees flower from January through June, and beans are harvested from July through December. The Kona Le’a Plantation is open to visitors, who can take free, self-guided tours weekdays from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tours can take 15 to 45 minutes, depending on the visitor’s interest level, and they include free tastings. The plantation also has a shop that sells packaged coffee as well as fresh roasted macadamia nuts. And for those who can never get enough of coffee, check out the Kona Natural Soap Company’s exfoliating coffee cacao soap.

Mexico City: In this city of about 20 million, there’s a cup of coffee to suit every taste and sentiment. The fashionable crowd heads to the neighborhood of La Condesa, where Caffé Toscano serves Illy and other chic blends. Caffé El Jarocho, in Coyoacán, is a favorite gathering place for hippies, bohemians, and political progressives. Grab a cup and enjoy the people-watching, especially on weekends. That’s when the street scene springs into overdrive as artists, jewelry designers, and other vendors arrive to sell their goods from makeshift stands. Hardcore java fiends should head to Caffé Emir in Polanco (a residential area just off Chapultepec Park), which Salvador Camarena, editor in chief of the city magazine Chilango, calls the best for “coffee coffee.”

New Orleans: Early French settlers stretched their coffee supplies by adding chicory, the dried root of the endive plant, to their brew. The necessity became a preference, and chicory coffee remains a signature flavor of New Orleans. Jay Roman, whose grandfather founded the company that runs the Café Du Monde, reports that the shop on Jackson Square resumed 24/7 operations just before Mardi Gras 2006. In addition to the French Market shop, six other locations in the area serve up coffee and beignets. Another chain that’s popular with locals is CC’s Coffee House, operated by Community Coffee, the 87-year-old producer of the brand that’s most likely to be found in a native New Orleanian’s own kitchen. Both coffee shops sell their blends online.

Stockholm: Sweden’s high-octane coffee is a survival tool in a city where, on the shortest day of the year, the sun rises at 9 a.m. and disappears by 3 p.m. Forget frothy cappuccinos here; we’re talking about a jolt of electricity in a cup. In the city center, choose a table in the warren of rooms at Vete-Katten, which also serves pastries and sells delicious breads at its take-out counter that are great for late-night snacking back at the hotel. And for a brush with history in the making, linger over an after-dinner cup at Den Gyldene Freden in Gamla Stan (the Old Town). Each Thursday, members of the Swedish Academy, which chooses the Nobel Laureate in literature, meet here for dinner.

Rome: “People-watching anywhere in Rome is great,” says Joie Davidow, an American who currently lives there. She particularly likes the di Marzio in the Piazza Santa Maria in Trastevere “because the neighborhood is very bohemian and full of characters. To watch the so-called beautiful people,” she says, “you’d have to go up to the posh outskirts like Parioli.” Davidow’s picks for the best places to linger over a cup of coffee include Il Caffe di Sant’Eustachio, with outdoor seating on a piazza in the city center, and Bar del Cappuccino, where the servers swirl fanciful designs on the cappuccino foam. To satisfy a sweet tooth, she recommends the pastry and coffee shop I Dolci di Checco er Carettiere, also in Trastevere.

Miami: No longer strictly an enclave for exiled Cubans, Miami’s Little Havana has evolved into a neighborhood teeming with restaurants that can satisfy an appetite for any Latino cuisine. But the neighborhood’s roots remain firmly in place at La Carreta, which dishes out classic Cuban food and coffee. Made in an espresso machine, the extra-roasted coffee has a strong, rich flavor and a thick consistency. Locals swear it’s the only place in Miami to get true Cuban brew.

Bogotá: After all those years of seeing the face of Juan Valdez on coffee cans and TV commercials, a visit to Las Tiendas Juan Valdez is a must when in Bogotá, Colombia. The coffee is served up in a clean, contemporary setting at more than a dozen locations citywide, including El Dorado Airport. A popular spot in the Usaquen neighborhood is La Tienda del Café, whose funky decor features a riot of traditional and handcrafted objects. For more upscale sipping, locals recommend Café Renault in the Parque de la 93, which offers excellent java in an ultramodern environment that features striking architecture.

— Randy B. Hecht

Getting There: All the destinations covered in “Go to Town” can be reached by flying Continental. To book your vacation, visit Continental Airlines Vacations at covacations.com.

FLY & BUY

Promotions from our advertisers

Beachtown. According to the New York Times article “Texans Find Their Own Hamptons Equivalent,” this new urbanist community, master planned by DPZ, is pioneering the fortified construction program in Galveston, Texas. beachtown.com; 800.270.8595

MTM. The internationally recognized leading manufacturer of military watches introduces the Pro Ops Series of rugged, dependable, tactical timepieces. Now available to the general public. specialopswatch.com; 800.862.6772

CellularExtra. We’ve taken the best telecom, wireless, and VoIP products and galvanized them into a Virtual eBusiness for you. CellularExtra offers cutting-edge technology, unique international dialing products, and 24/7 chat support. CellularExtra.com/general